


Strange

by starburrst



Category: The Evil Within (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-08
Updated: 2015-07-08
Packaged: 2018-04-08 09:04:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4298811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starburrst/pseuds/starburrst
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This place is horrible, gut-wrenching, traumatising, sadistic. 'Strange' could also be a word used to describe this place, but Ruvik has never encountered something as strange as this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Strange

Decaying walls let go of scraps of expensive wallpaper in the Victoriano household. Ruvik stood at the top of the stairs, examining the entrance hall below him. 

Pathetic. 

Years of wasted life in this place finally starting to show. The more Ruvik loathed this place, the more it seemed to fall apart. And his hate was every growing. 

He often liked to trap people in here, see how they react when faced with his traps in a familiar surrounding to him. Of course he never gave away that it was something personal to him. To everyone else it was just a creepy mansion. To Ruvik, it was a place of despair and utter hatred. 

The turning of a doorknob on the front double doors alerted the cloaked man. Another victim, travelling to their doom. No one had escaped this place yet. 

As the door slowly opened, Ruvik was, for once in his life, utterly shocked. The person who entered the house was the last kind of person he would ever expect to see in a place like this. 

It was a child. 

Slightly alarmed, Ruvik stood in place, his expression giving away no hint of his surprise. Save for his eyes widening only a fraction. The small child crept in to the hall, slightly shaking. Her eyes darted everywhere, checking for signs of danger. Deeming it okay, she entered the house and jumped when the door shut behind her. She clasped her hands together and brought them up to her chest, still shivering, most likely from fear rather than the cold breeze that swept through the mansion. 

A child?, Ruvik thought. She must be a memory, an apparition. She had to be. No way would Mobius could be that cruel. Or they could be, Ruvik never doubted the full depth of the evil that ran in that company. That being said, Ruvik himself was no prize, but he never harmed a child. 

The young girl took a fearful step forward, her black shoes not making a sound on the marble floor. Ruvik watched her curiously. 

"Mom? Dad..?" she called out, her voice cracking. How could she have survived so long in a place like this? She had no weapons. Ruvik doubted she knew how to use any even if she was armed. The girl tilted her head up the stairs, realising she hadn't checked there before, and gasped loudly when she saw him. 

Ruvik's mouth opened slightly. He'd been spotted. 

The small girl whimpered and tried to back up, but tripped over her feet and fell. Ruvik glitched out of the space as the girl hit the ground. She paused for a moment and then began to cry. 

Ruvik glitched back in a few feet in front of the girl who was sitting on the ground, crying her eyes out from the pain and fear. Ruvik stood there, unaware of what to do. He'd never dealt with children before. Especially not crying ones. 

And something told him that she wasn't going to feel better with him just standing there. 

"P-please don't hurt me... I just w-want my mommy..." the little girl spat out between sobs. Intense sobs. Ruvik slightly raised an eyebrow that wasn't actually there. Her parents were in the STEM? A weird and foreign feeling began to grow in the pit if his stomach. Something he hadn't felt in a long time, or ever at all. 

It was guilt. 

Had he killed her parents?

Ruvik looked down at the small crying girl, a sad mess on the floor. She was utterly miserable. Ruvik decided to take some sort of action. 

"What is your name?" he asked. His voice was rough as usual, although he tried to make it sound as light as possible. 

The crying girl wiped her right eye and slowly looked up at the cloaked man. She was a bit sensitive to his appearance, never seeing burns as severe as his. His state also made her feel intimidated. As scared as she was, she answered. 

"People... P-people call me L." she said shakily. She eyed Ruvik, waiting for his response. "I'm eight." she said in the way a child would. Well, she is one.

Ruvik looked at her questionably. He didn't understand why she stated her age. Ruvik noticed her shifty eyes and tried his best to soften his gaze. He probably did a bad job. 

L noticed his change in expression and became a little braver, partially removing him as a threat. Children are much more trusting than adults. She didn't even mind his appearance, as long as he was nice. 

"What's your name?" L asked, her tears drying on her face. Ruvik blinked, but complied. L seemed to be cheering up. 

"Ruvik." He said flatly. L stayed looking at him, as if waiting for something else. 

"Just... Ruvik?" she questioned. "You are just L." he replied. L's mouth opened as if to say something else, but quickly shut. She simply nodded. 

"How old are you?" she asked. Ruvik stared at her blankly, and gave an attempted reply. 

"Older than you." he said simply. L's eyes grew wide in amazement. 

"Really? Like, how old? Are you twenty?" L asked. Ruvik could almost laugh at her guess. Almost. 

"No." he said. A small gasp came from L then. "Even older? That's really cool." she said. Her voice was genuine, full of surprise and joy. Even in this hellish place she managed to keep happy. All of her despair from earlier seemed to disappear. 

Ruvik wasn't particularly fond of being 'nice', his ever-boiling hate faltering for this one little girl. Her dark brown hair was sticking out of her ponytail in places, a sign she'd been running or moving fast recently. Ruvik decided to delve into this. 

"Have you seen any... Monsters?" he tried to put it as simply as he could. He wasn't exaggerating too much. They were very horrifying. L frowned slightly and looked at the floor. "Some... Very scary people. They didn't see me." she said. They didn't see her? 

"I used to play hide and seek with mom and dad. I'm very good at it." L said, with a hint of pride in her voice. She must have impeccable skills, Ruvik thought, to be able to hide from the Haunted. 

L looked to the floor. "There was this one man... He was big, scary. But he looked... Sad. I feel bad for him." L said. Ruvik was surprised. This girl was sad for these Haunted? 

"You feel sad for them?" Ruvik spoke his thoughts. L nodded. "They all look sad. Are they okay?" L asked. Ruvik looked away from L, to her right. 

"No." he said bluntly.

L's eyes turned sad. "Oh." 

A question came into Ruvik's mind that he knew would burn there if he didn't ask it. "Do you think I am like those monsters?" he asked. L looked up to him. 

He had been nice to her so far, and any time a Haunted saw her they intent on catching her. Ruvik didn't seem like a threat. She shook her head. "You're not scary. At first, you were. But you're nice." L said with a small smile. Ruvik had to admit that he was taken aback. He was... Nice?

It was the first time someone had said anything good about him since... Since Laura died. "Oh, are you okay? Did I make you sad?" L asked, finally getting off the floor and standing up. Ruvik's eyes flashed sadness when he thought of his sister. He looked at L, returning to his normal expression. 

"I'm fine." He said, trying to hold back a bite to his tone. L looked at her feet. She knew she had stepped where she shouldn't have. 

"When I saw the grinch on t.v. one Christmas, I hated him," L started. Ruvik have her a quizzical look. "but then at the end of the movie I liked him. Because he had a big heart." L moved her hands outward to emphasise her point. Ruvik didn't know why she was telling him this story. 

"I think you're like the grinch." L said. Ruvik was slightly offended. "But, the good one. Mean looking on the outside but really nice on the inside." L said, a smile on her face. Her tears were gone altogether. 

Ruvik thought she was very wise for an eight year old. Ruvik knew himself this wasn't the case, but after this encounter, he wasn't too sure. 

L took a deep breath and slowly reached her hand out. Her small fingers wrapped themselves around Ruvik's right hand. Ruvik didn't even flinch, just watched. 

Once L knew it was safe, she stepped closer and fully grasped his hand. For the first time in a long time, Ruvik felt genuinely happy. 

For the first time in a long time, Ruvik smiled. 

_________________________

A single tear rolled down the woman's face as she watched the monitors. She unclipped the badge she wore from her blazer pocket and left it on the desk in between the keyboards. She was done for today. She had seen enough. Turning, she walked through the automatic metal door and down the hallway. 

A doctor walked in, scribbling down noted on a notebook attached to a clipboard. She could hear the clicking of heels down the exit hall. Looking up from the clipboard, she saw a name tag beside the keyboards. She picked it up and looked at the woman leaving, who was close to the exit. The doctor put her clipboard down and walked briskly after the woman. 

"Excuse me? Mrs. Castellanos? Myra Castellanos..?" The doctor stopped walking when Myra exited the building, closing the fire doors behind her. 

"Thank you, Ruvik." 

"Thank you for protecting Lily."


End file.
